


In Being Found

by oh_simone



Series: tales from the golden age of livejournal [2]
Category: Derkholm Series - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 02:29:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5989017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_simone/pseuds/oh_simone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Flury (or, Flurian Atreck, Respectable Wizard of Most High Honor in the Venerable Atreck Clan of Old and Established Griffins) chances upon a small, winged member of the Wizard Derk's family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Being Found

**Author's Note:**

> more tales from the lj crypt. Originally written in 2009.

Flury (or, Flurian Atreck, Respectable Wizard of Most High Honor in the Venerable Atreck Clan of Old and Established Griffins) ran away from home when he was approximately four-and-a-half years. He hadn’t gotten far, not being a quarter of the size he was as an adult, but far enough to throw his guardians into a panic when they discovered his absence. He himself had been fine, gamboling among fresh heath and stalking grasshoppers for hours until hearing the first faint call of his cousin Antick, upon which he’d promptly burst into tears.

At the moment, he was recalling with perfect clarity that abrupt and unpleasant sensation of suddenly realizing how precarious a situation was just as it ended. He completely sympathized with the young child tangled in the branches of the scraggly oak, whose face was swollen and streaked with tears and whose arms and feet were scratched and smudged.

“Hello,” Flury said soothingly. “Angelo, is it? Do you remember me?”

The boy gave an alarmingly wet sniffle and nodded.

“Can you get down?”

Again, the boy nodded, and Flury waited patiently while he scooted into position and dropped from the branch, his wings unfurling with instinctive ease. The unusual boy fluttered an inch or so above ground before touching down, scrubbing his face with the back of his hand.

“You’re rather far from home, aren’t you?” Flury prodded gently, silently sending a mental alert to Elda, who was home from school for the holidays, and therefore the closest to their location. And perhaps the one being he wouldn’t mind seeing sooner than later. “Do your parents know you’ve gone?”

With a loud sob, Angelo shook his head. “I w-want Blade,” he proclaimed, miserably mulish. “He promised to come _home_."

"And so he will, eventually." Flury said with agreeable assurance. "But why wait for him all the way out here?"

Angelo snoffled wetly, but glared at Flury as if the wizard was thick. "I was trying to find him," he corrected crossly, and his face nearly crumpled as he added, "But I don't kn-know where I am anymore."

"An difficult quandary," admitted the griffin solemnly. "I don't suppose you remember what direction you came from? Are you hurt anywhere?" he added belatedly.

"No," the boy replied, voice thick with the unreasonable resentment that came with shame and embarrassment.

Flury nodded mildly and did a quick, unnoticed magical scan anyways to assuage his worry. "Well, I've called your sister Elda to come find us. I expect she'll be arriving any moment now."

Angelo looked at him suspiciously, red eyes rimmed with thick, blonde lashes. Now that he'd calmed down, he was turning into one of those children that were, Flury thought wryly, anything but angelic.

"I don't _want_ Elda," Angelo enunciated slowly to Flury, tone rife with disdain at the thought of his older sister. "She's a _girl_ , and she doesn't-"

" _Angelo_!" They both turned at the faint screeching of Angelo's older sister, appearing on the horizon. Besides him, Angelo whimpered in anticipation of his scolding, his bravado disappearing now his sister was in sight. Flury didn't bother to hide his amusement, knowing Angelo wouldn't see it anyways and took a moment to appreciate the setting sun glinting off of Elda's golden coat.

"Angelo, what on earth possessed you to take off like that?! Mum's frantic and Flo's hysterical; she thinks you've been eaten by Dad's new monkeys. Everyone's been looking all over for you! Are you alright? Any injuries?" Elda's harried squawking was offset by the relieved, worried way in which she nosed and nuzzled her brother, ignoring his yelps.

"He's fine," Flury said helpfully. "At any rate, he was able to fly down from the tree."

Elda's head snapped up at his voice, as if just remembering he was there. That certainly wasn't the usual way, Flury thought ruefully.

"Oh! Flury. Thank you for finding him," Elda said gratefully. "He's really not usually this much trouble."

"No problems at all, Elda. I'm glad to have found him in time. Have you been well?" he inquired politely. The younger griffin looked up sharply from where she'd been fussing over Angelo, and he could see the bright intelligence in her eyes regarding him curiously.

"Very well," she replied. "Almost done with school. And you? We haven't seen much of you in awhile."

Flury just surpressed the urge to apologize, and griffin-shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. "Doing some work in the north and on the other side of the ocean," he said vaguely. "I was, in fact, hoping to see your brothers Blade and Kit before I leave for the Empire."

Elda smiled and Flury reveled in its warmth and openness. "Well, you're in luck; they arrived about an hour ago- yes, Angelo, he _is_ home, don't shout, and _don't_ forget what trouble you're in, young man- and will be home for at least the rest of the week- will you stop that, yes, _yes_ we can go home now." Elda glared at him to remind him of his misbehavior and looming punishment, but both griffins could see that for Angelo the prospect of discipline was soundly overwhelmed by the excitement of having his favorite sibling back. He was all smiles, fluttering and bobbing above the ground in excitement, tears dried to forgotten streaks along his cheeks.

Flury chuckled, and Elda shrugged helplessly with a small smile of her own. She cocked her head to him, regarding him with bright eyes. "You know, if you'd like, you should join us for dinner. It's only fair, since you found Angelo."

"I really don't want to intrude," Flury demurred politely, then realized his mistake as a small frisson of irritation ran down her spine. "But if I really wouldn't be much trouble, then I would be honored," he amended smoothly.

The smaller griffin rolled her eyes. "Please, Flury. It isn't like you don't know what my family is like. You're just being insulting."

"That is the last thing I wish to be," he assured her, and eyed Angelo with amusement. The winged boy was swinging back and forth in the air impatiently, and glaring at Flury for holding him back from going home and seeing Blade _right now_.

"Then you'll come," Elda stated with satisfaction. "Good. Angelo, hold on to my leg, please." She lifted off easily, and hovered briefly while her brother obediently clung to her right talon, fluttering alongside. Flury pushed off as well, matching their slower pace politely and the three of them winged over the green countryside. When somewhere along the way, Angelo reached out with his other hand and took his claw, Flury felt a moment of surprise. Elda slid him a sidelong look that he didn't quite catch, and Angelo didn't glance at him at all, but as Flury gazed to where the home of Wizard Derk was quickly coming into focus, he smiled a little. The best thing about being found, he remembered fondly, was being back among friends.


End file.
